Terror on the Indigo
by Shane C
Summary: Just a little Halloween-inspired short story with our favorite characters. I say short story, but it'll be in two parts. The Animorphs try to have some downtime, but something threatens their fun. Is it the Yeerks? This is the first installment - the second will be up in a day or two. Anyway, enjoy! And do let me know what you think so far, if you would be so kind :D


**Author's Note: **Hello, thanks for picking this story to read! Just a few quick points of note. This story takes place almost immediately after Book #25 – The Attack. If you don't remember it offhand, it's the one where the Animorphs go to the Iskoort home world, fight the Howlers, and learn the finer points of Crayak and the Ellimist's game (not to mention a little something about the Yeerks.) You don't need to have read #25 in order to enjoy this one – it's simply a point in the timeline I can point to and say, "There. It happens there." I'd originally planned this to be a one-shot, but it's getting too long. I guess you could call it a "two-shot," since this is part one of two. Don't worry, I'm already well underway with part two and I won't leave you hanging for long! So, if a creepy, Halloween-inspired short story featuring the Animorphs sounds like your cup of tea, take a sip. Put your feet up, relax, and enjoy watching the Anis at both work and play. Story of their lives, right? ;)

_Rated T for mild swearing and underage drinking_

**Terror on the Indigo**

**Part One**

_**Jake**_

When we'd been returned to Earth from the Iskoort home world, everybody was frayed. It was a lot to process, what with all of the new information we'd gotten there. We'd thought we knew who we were fighting and what we were fighting them for, but it turns out we didn't know jack. If it weren't bad enough with the entire human race counting on us, now we had the fate of all peace-loving peoples in the galaxy on our shoulders.

That's heavy. You probably can't imagine how heavy. It was a classic case of TMDI – Too Much Damn Information.

Even though it's heavy and I'm the leader of the group, which means it's my job to shoulder most of the responsibility, I don't have to do it all alone. I went to Cassie's the night after we got back, because I needed someone who would listen and help me talk things out. Cassie is the world's best therapist – she's like a maid for your mind. She has a way of getting in there and tidying up, putting all of your thoughts and worries and priorities into nice neat rows so you won't trip over them. Cheesy, I know, but that's sort of how I see it.

Anyway, out in the barn that night, Cassie sat on a bale of hay and listened as I paced the floor, ticking off all of the things that were bothering me. Everything that could go wrong and everything that could go right. What information we could act on. What we should leave alone.

Then I got to the selfish stuff. How letting that Howler fall to his death had been weighing on me. The wrong decisions I'd made over the last couple of missions – missions that were basically successes, but only because of pure luck. No thanks to me.

Cassie was quiet, every now and then muttering something like, "Oh," or, "I see." You know, just to let me know she was listening. Her dad is the same way – a really quiet, thoughtful man who takes everything in before chipping in his two cents. Cassie picked up the habit from him, so I knew she was listening even without all the, "Mmhmms." Finally, I wound down and ran out of things to say. I sighed heavily and sat beside her on the hay bale. I studied her face carefully to see what she was thinking, but Cassie has one _hell _of a poker face. Finally, I asked, "So, what do you think, doctor? Am I crazy?"

That made her laugh. She looked at me meaningfully and said, "Yeah, but we all are. Just a little bit." Then she fell quietly back in thought again.

I started to worry that maybe I'd overloaded her with my worries. "Hey, you know I was just venting. I don't expect you to have any actual answers."

Finally, she looked at me and smiled. There was even this little mysterious twinkle in her eye. "Oh, but I think I _do _have the answer."

My heart jumped in my throat. We'd kissed for the first time not even twenty-four hours ago – could that little comment have been alluding to that? Or was I sadly misinterpreting her words? I decided to play it cool, throw on my own poker face, and let her explain before I made a fool of myself. And I'm definitely glad I did.

"I know of this place on the Indigo River," she said slowly. "I haven't thought of it in quite a while, but I think it's just what we need. We need to get away from all of this, Jake." She saw me start to protest and smiled gently. "I don't mean like that – not running away. Just for a little while. Thirty hours. The world won't fall apart because we take half of a weekend off."

I was a little intrigued. "What do you have in mind?"

She looked down at her shoes, like she thought I was going to scold her for what she was about to say. "Nothing crazy. Just camping. And I don't mean in the woods behind the farm – that would be nothing special for Tobias and Ax, and they need a little vacation too. I know of part of the river that's up north, and it's on private land. My dad is friends with the man who owns it. This guy also owns a canoe rental business. It's technically the off-season right now, but my dad does him favors all of the time with all of the wildlife he's got on his property. I'm sure he would be glad to take us up the river and give us a couple of boats. We could just chill out and paddle downriver for a few miles, stop and camp, and then go to the pick-up point in the morning."

I just looked at her while I chewed over the idea in my mind. It actually sounded like fun. It wouldn't take us _too _far from home, but far enough to feel like we were getting away. It was the off-season, so we'd have the river to ourselves – a good thing when you're thinking of bringing an Andalite.

Cassie interrupted my thoughts. "I know it's stupid and probably unnecessary," she blurted. "If you don't want to, I completely -"

"Cassie, I think that sounds like the best idea I've ever heard," I said, and I meant it. She smiled in relief. "When do we leave?" I asked her.

"Um, tomorrow?" she asked. I counted back through the week and realized that it was Friday already. Well, technically it was Saturday, since it was after midnight. I nodded, and she ventured, "Can we meet here at eleven am? That should give me time to let Dad get in touch with Rusty and to get all of the camping gear together."

I smiled, realizing that I was actually looking forward to it. "Sounds awesome. I'll swing by the meadow tonight and let Ax and Tobias know. If they morph right in the barn before we leave, will they have enough time for us to get where we're going and demorph in private?"

She thought for a second, and then nodded. "Maybe a forty minute drive up there, and another ten for Rusty to take us to the drop off point. Plenty of time."

Instinctively, I quickly leaned in and kissed her cheek. She blushed a little, but did not look unsatisfied. It made me feel good. As I started my owl morph I said, "I was wrong. You _did _have the answer." I tried to smile before the beak hardened my lips. "See you in the morning."

_**Rachel**_

"Mom!" I yelled from where I was rummaging through bins in our garage. "Where are all of our Aqua Socks?"

"The Aqua-whats?" she yelled back, just as I was remembering. My poor pair of Aqua Socks had been thrashed several months ago. I'd thought they would be tight enough to morph, but either I hadn't concentrated hard enough or they were too loose to begin with. My size five foot had turned into about a size ninety-three inside of them. Aqua Socks are tough, but they ain't _that_ tough.

"Never mind, I'll just wear flip flops." I put on a pair and walked into the kitchen. My mom was pouring a cup of coffee and eyeing me speculatively.

"Camping, Rachel? Really? Since when are you an outdoorswoman?"

I shrugged defensively. "It's just an overnight canoe trip. I'm not signing up for Survivor or anything."

She still looked doubtful. "I know Cassie's good with animals, but how is she at putting up tents? Building fires? You realize you'll be completely cut off from civilization – there are no malls out there."

I sighed. "The guys can do all of that, mom. It'll give them a chance to flex their testosterone."

"That's another thing that worries me. I don't like the thought of you alone in the woods with a bunch of guys."

I barked a short laugh. "Are you kidding me? Jake, my cousin, and Marco, the most annoying person on the planet? Believe me, Mom, you have absolutely nothing to worry about."

She seemed to realize I was being completely sincere and actually smiled a bit. "Well, okay. I can't say I'm not glad you girls will have a little muscle out there. Just make sure…" she seemed to struggle with what she wanted to say and how to say it. "Just make sure they behave themselves, all right?"

I laughed again. "You have nothing to worry about," I repeated.

The phone rang and I grabbed it off the hook on the first ring. It was Jake. "Cassie says if you're not over here in ten minutes, we're leaving you." I heard a faint protest, and Jake snickered into the receiver. "All right, those weren't her exact words. But hurry up, would you?"

"Coming, jeez," I said. I hung up. "Ready, mom? They're about to have a coronary, and I'm not even late yet." I picked up my overnight bag as she grabbed her keys, and we got in the car to ride to Cassie's.

As we pulled up, only Jake, Cassie, and Marco were visible. I breathed a sigh of relief – I hadn't been looking forward to explaining to my mom who the two "extra" guys were. As I grabbed my bag and started to get out, my mom handed me two things – a cell phone and a can of mace. I rolled my eyes.

"I know you probably won't get reception out there, but the phone is just in case." She eyed Marco mistrustfully. "_Both _things are just in case." I stuffed them in my bag to make her happy, and she gave me a genuine smile. "Have fun, honey."

I smiled back. "Thanks, I will. See you tomorrow." I lugged my bag toward Cassie's dad's truck, where the bed was already half-full of equipment. When I got close enough to the barn, I called irritably to the guys, "No, you guys just stay there and look pretty. I got it."

Marco laughed and Jake jogged out to meet me, just in time to carry my stuff the last five feet to the truck. He grinned ruefully as he tossed it in. "Sorry."

I gave him a friendly punch in the shoulder. "S'all good. I was kidding."

Marco grinned obnoxiously as Jake and I made our way to the barn, and he started singing. "Off we go! Into the wild blue yon-" Cassie cut him off by clapping her hand playfully over his mouth.

"Thank you," I told her. She let Marco go. He was still smiling.

I heard a bang from the last horse stall, the one that was always empty, and it swung open to reveal Ax and Tobias, both fully human. Tobias was dressed normally, and he was trying to get Ax's arm out of the neck hole of his shirt. "Stop fighting me, Ax!"

Ax stopped struggling Tobias got his shirt situated. "I am sorry. Saw-ree. The instincts of this bod-dee fiercely object to being restrained."

Cassie's dad walked into the barn, whistling. "Look at this fine crew of merry campers!" he exclaimed, grinning at all of us. He seemed as excited as we were. "Let's load up. Boys in the back of the truck with the equipment – we'll be on back roads the whole way, so I won't be going too fast." He tipped a wink to Jake as we started piling in the truck. "I'll try not to bounce you guys out on your butts, but hold on tight just in case."

The roads _were _bumpy, and it added to the feeling that we were really going away. Sure, it was a short trip, but we were going out there. No Yeerks, no school, no lying to family…these were all big perks. But I was also getting to spend some time with Tobias. Unhurried, unpressured time. It was a luxury I hadn't really ever had, and I was looking forward to it.

Cassie's dad actually added to the collective good mood. He didn't preach or lecture, just smiled happily as we bounced along dirt roads and hummed upbeat songs. He saw absolutely nothing wrong with dropping four guys and two girls – all teenagers – in the woods for an overnight canoe trip. That was what was so awesome about Cassie's parents. Most adults automatically view teenagers with mistrust until the kids in question prove their worth. With Cassie's parents, you automatically started out with their trust. In my opinion, that was the best way to go. If you treat kids like adults, they're more likely to act like it.

'_Most kids,_' I amended as the truck idled and I heard Marco finish a dirty joke in the back. Cassie's dad either pretended not to hear, or he really didn't hear it. I hoped the latter. Finally, he pulled off of the main dirt road onto a smaller, worse-maintained dirt road. We pulled up in front of a small building that proclaimed it to be "Mountain Memories: An Outdoor Experience."

Cassie's dad's buddy Rusty was waiting beside an old, beat up van in front of the building. He already had a trailer hitched to his van with three canoes loaded. He smiled warmly as he shook Cassie's dad's hand. "Thanks again for this, Rusty. These are good kids, and they won't cause any trouble. I hope you don't mind taking them."

I introduced myself as the boys started moving the equipment from the truck to the van. Rusty had a brisk, rough handshake that I liked. He looked back to Cassie's dad. "Nawp, no trouble at all, Doc. I actually plan on putting them to work while they're out on the stretch."

"Work?" Marco complained, and Jake popped him lightly in the head. He held up a wave and said, "I'm Jake, Rusty. We'll be happy to help you out, you being nice enough to take us out and all."

Rusty grinned, and Cassie's dad looked pleased. He looked at Rusty like, "See? Told you they were good kids." Rusty nodded like he'd said the words out loud, then turned to Jake. Funny, how even people outside of our group somehow know Jake is the one in charge.

"I ain't gonna ask for much, just that you keep your eye out for any big pieces of trash out there. Anything that takes away from the idea that you're nowhere near people, you understand?" Jake nodded. "Anything you see, if you'd pack it into your boats so I can throw it away when I pick you up, I'd be mighty obliged."

"Easy enough. Happy to do it, sir," he grunted as he tossed the last bag into the van. Rusty nodded, pleased with Jake's answer.

"Well, all right, then. Load 'em up." He shook hands with Cassie's dad again. "You can pick 'em up here, same time tomorrow."

"Thanks, Rusty. Have a good trip, kids!" That was all – no warnings to behave or anything, just that trust that was almost creepy, coming from an adult. He climbed into his truck as we all got into Rusty's van and got on the road to the drop off point.

Rusty lit a cigarette, which I'd known he was going to do from the second we got in his vehicle. It smelled like wet people and tobacco. He kept his eyes on the road while he talked.

"Normally, I wouldn't take a bunch of young'uns out on this trip alone, especially during the off-season. The doc says you're good kids, and I believe him. Ain't much hell you can raise out there in the middle of nowhere, but I'd ask you not to, just the same."

"We're just looking for some nice, quiet, relaxing time," Jake said quietly. Rusty studied him for a second before nodding.

"Well, you'll get it, out here." He turned to look at the coolers in the back. "I ain't gonna search you or anything, but y'all don't have any beer in them ice chests, right?"

"Nossir," Marco said quickly in a way that made me suspicious, but I didn't call him out.

"We're not drinkers or partiers," I assured Rusty, who nodded again.

"That's good. Every injury I see out here is due to somebody drunk-foolin'. Don't want nobody getting hurt, since I'm the only one out here this time a year, and you'll be miles from me."

He swung the van into an area that was obviously for loading and unloading small boats. "Don't worry about being too loud or anything – yell as much as you want. Matter of fact, it's good for you," he grinned. "Nobody lives within five miles of the river on the stretch you're going on." He turned serious as he started carrying the canoes to the water and we walked with him. "That's good and bad. Remember that – always both. If you get into any trouble, there ain't no help to be had. It's just you out there."

"We can take care of ourselves," I said dryly. If the worst happened and a brown bear started sniffing around, I could morph to grizzly and kick his poo-bear ass for him. "We'll definitely be all right."

He nodded again and handed Jake a laminated map. "This has all of your landmarks on it, so you know how far you've gone. I don't put mile markers out on the river, because it takes away from the scenery, you know? But if you pay attention, the landmarks are just as good. Here's a good place to camp for the night – it's a little more than halfway, so it'll leave you less to paddle in the mornin'." He called down to where Ax, Tobias, and Marco were loading our stuff into the boats. "Y'all gather round and gimme your ears for a second. It won't take but a minute, and then you'll be off." When they got up the incline to where we were standing, he said, "Just a couple of things. First, I know you got the doc's daughter with you, and from all accounts she's just as smart with critters as he is. But always keep in mind that this is the wilderness, and they call it wild for a reason. Bears, rock cats, snakes, poisonous insects – they're all out there. Generally, they'll leave you alone if you leave them alone, but keep a lookout, just in case." We all nodded kind of patronizingly, but Rusty didn't catch it. "Secondly, remember what I told you about the drunk-foolin'. If you're gonna do it, I can't stop you, but remember that it gets more people hurt than anything else." We nodded again, a little more seriously this time.

He butted out his cigarette and grinned. "Well, that's it. Have a good time – that's what this is all about," he spread his arms to indicate the river and the surrounding woods. "Oh, and you might want to make sure there's a guy in each boat – most of the river is pretty easy, but there are some patches of rapids where a bit of muscle in the boat will come in handy."

"That's not sexist or anything," I said sarcastically, and he gave me a funny look like he didn't know what I was talking about. I let it slide. "Nevermind. A guy in each boat. Got it." No need to argue the point, since I wanted to ride with Tobias, anyway.

"All right, kids. Try to be at the pick-up point by noon at the latest – both me and the doc are gonna be waiting on you." He was walking to the van as he talked. "Have fun!" He started up the vehicle and pulled away, and we were instantly all alone. Ax and Tobias slipped into the woods to restart the morphing clock.

We started getting into the boats, and Ax spoke up for the first time. We'd warned him just to stay quiet when we were still with the adults, and apparently he'd been saving up his questions.

"Where is the propulsion system for these watercraft?" he asked. Marco held up a paddle. "That does not look technologically able to produce momentum…wait. You push the water, not the boat? Ingenious!"

I laughed. You never know what parts of human culture Ax will find impressive or ridiculous. Tobias shoved us off and hopped into the back. I reached behind me, and he gave my hand a squeeze before manning his oar.

"The man spoke of dangers. Do these waters hold violent creatures? Sharks, perhaps, or crocogators?" Even though it was funny, I marveled at how well the space cadet was adapting to life among the humans. Marco answered him in a smartassed, mocking tone.

"Nope, none of those pesky crocogators. Sharks, either. Sharks are salt water; we're in fresh water. They don't live in rivers."

Ax busted his condescending bubble and schooled him. "You are obviously unaware of your own environment. Bull sharks, a certified maneater, have been caught more than two hundred miles away from the oceans, in freshwater rivers."

After the chorus of "Oooh!" and everybody laughing at Marco's shamed look, Cassie answered Ax's original question. "You're right, Ax; that's true. But no sharks have ever been caught in this particular river, to my knowledge. No big, hungry reptiles, either. Water snakes are probably the biggest predator that hunts this water."

"And ospreys," Tobias said quietly. I glanced back. He was searching the trees that overhung the river. "These eyes suck, bad. But I've already seen at least one occupied nest."

"And ospreys," Cassie agreed. Just then, we rounded the bend, and the river really widened. It kind of took my breath away, how the sparkling water widened into a smooth road of moving liquid. The forest crowded in like it was just waiting for the river to dry out so it could take that over, too. Animals chirped, chittered, and scampered through the woods on either side, and aside from the low, quiet drone of the river, it was the only sound to be heard. I laid my paddle across my knees and turned my face up to the sun, closing my eyes. I felt relaxed for the first time in ages, and I savored the feeling.

_**Ax**_

In terms of efficient locomotion, the canoes were better than walking. It was by a narrow margin, however.

According to my human friends, I was "missing the point." I realized they were right; in this endeavor, the destination was not the reason for the journey, it was the journey itself. Andalites understand this concept, of course, but we are a practical people. We don't take as much time out as humans do for simple pleasure activities.

Using a human canoe is much harder than it seems. You cannot stand up. I found this out early on, when I spotted a strange Earth bird and wanted a closer look. I stood in order to get it, and instantly the boat pitched and rolled wildly. Even the most stable human would have fallen into the river – I have little practice with human balance, which is its own art form. I hit the cold water and began thrashing, trying to figure out how to swim in this body. I had almost resorted to simply demorphing and hoping to complete the process before I drowned when I heard Tobias' thought-speech in my head.

(Stand up, Ax! You're in about three feet of water!)

Tentatively, I let gravity take my thrashing feet. Sure enough, they planted themselves in the muddy bottom, and I was able to stand. Marco showed his teeth at me and said, "Now you know – no standing up in the boat. I'm lucky you didn't take me over with you. Walk to that sand bar and I'll pick you back up."

Steering the boat is a simple concept which is hard to put into practice. Pushing the water on the right side turns the boat left, and vice versa. But the sluggish way the boat reacts to these motions is a bit exasperating – it is easy to paddle too hard, or not enough, or to overcorrect a mistake. Marco was getting frustrated as we navigated the obstacles in the river, like rocks and fallen trees.

"Dude! Just put the paddle down, Ax – you're fighting me, not helping."

"Saw-ree," I said, and I placed the paddle on the floor of the canoe. I apologize more freely in my human morph because I like the way the word "sorry" feels when I say it. It must have made Marco feel badly, because he gave me a look I interpret to be apologetic.

He reached into his insulated box and took out a little red can. "Here, bud. Just have a Coke and a smile. Take it easy and let me do the work for a little bit."

After a moment, I figured out how to puncture the pre-scored hole in the aluminum with the metal tab provided. Wasteful, but brilliant. I lined the hole up to my mouth and poured the liquid in.

Cold. Carbonated. Sweet. It was all of these things, but adjectives do not put into perspective how fantastic the drink was. "Wonderful!" I exclaimed after swallowing, and I spilled some in my haste to get more of the precious flavor into my mouth. My human friends laughed, but I barely noticed. The Coke had monopolized all of my attention.

"That must be Two Face Rock," Prince Jake pointed to our left. Surely enough, there was a large geological formation that resembled two human faces.

My Coke was gone, so I dropped the empty can into the bottom of the canoe beside my paddle. "Do humans always name geological formations based on things they resemble?" I wondered.

"Most of the time," Cassie said. "It's just easier that way."

"What the _hell _are you doing?" Prince Jake called incredulously over to our boat. I thought he was speaking to me, but I soon saw he was talking to Marco in reference to the bottle of liquid in his hand.

"Are we not supposed to drink liquids yet? Yet-tuh?" I asked, feeling guilty. I had only consumed the Coke because Marco had given it to me; I hadn't known it was forbidden.

"Drinking _liquids _is fine. Drinking _whiskey _isn't!" Prince Jake shouted at Marco, who screwed the cap back onto the bottle and set it between his knees.

"You done?" Marco asked his friend mildly.

"Not even close!" Prince Jake shouted again. He must have been really angry – Prince Jake rarely shouts. "Let's count the reasons why! The main one being that Cassie's dad vouched for us, and you're breaking the one promise Rusty had us make!"

"Actually, he didn't," Marco said. "His exact words were, 'If you're going to be drunk fooling, I can't stop you.'"

"He made you promise you didn't have any alcohol while we were still in the van, you liar," Rachel called. Prince Jake let her talk, and he seemed to be calming down.

"Wrong again. He made me promise that I didn't have any _beer _– which I don't. I jacked one of my dad's cigars, too, and I plan on smoking it. You guys can just get over yourselves right now. We came out here to relax, and that's what I'm doing. I'm just not going to be prude about defiling myself. You do what you want."

Cassie leaned forward and muttered something quietly to Jake, who nodded and shrugged. He threw one last dirty look at Marco and said, "Whatever, man."

"Whatever, indeed," Marco shot back, and took another swallow of his "whiskey." Rachel and Tobias were watching the scene from their boat, and they had similar, amused expressions on their faces. Cassie spoke to Jake again, and his severe expression relaxed.

Cassie called over, "Its fine, Marco. Just please don't overdo it, and be careful, okay?"

"Sure thing!" he called back happily.

Now that the argument had been settled and Marco had been permitted to consume his bottle of liquid…and my Coke was gone…

"Marco? May I taste some of your beverage?"

_**Cassie**_

Drunk Marco is one thing. It's annoying, sure, but it's manageable.

A drunken Andalite is something else entirely.

We spent twenty minutes gathering up all of their equipment from the river after the first time they flipped their canoe. This was in a deeper part of the river, and Jake had actually had to go in to drag Ax to shallow water. The second time they flipped, we split up their gear between me and Jake's boat and Rachel and Tobias'. We'd wrapped our things in plastic, but half of it was waterlogged, anyway.

Marco's tongue loosened up more than usual, if that's even possible. He babbled and blabbed about anything at all; anything that crossed his mind that might have been funny, he blurted it out loud. Ax's mouth filter seemed to be malfunctioning, too.

"The wick-see is poison. It has affected me psychologically, and I feel physically ill, like I must regurgitate. Despite this, I feel happy and calm. Is this the normal effect? Eff eckt?"

"You tell me," Jake muttered, and I reminded him again of what I'd told him at first.

"Don't worry. Ax has about thirty minutes left before he has to demorph. And if Marco gets really annoying, we can just have him morph." I'd reminded Jake that we were able to morph away from venom and poison, so why not alcohol? It had allowed him to relax and let Marco be Marco…for a while, at least.

For no reason at all, Ax started flailing his arms wildly, and his canoe rocked dangerously. "I feel like I am in zero gravity! My limbs are weightless, yet I am inside of a gravitational field! Interesting!"

"Quit it, Ax, you'll tip us over again," Marco warned, and the Andalite did as he was asked. He placed his hands back into his lap and said, "I wonder how you humans – hyoooo mins – get anything at all done with a substance like wick-see so readily available. It seems to be a wonderful way to spend time." He barely finished this last sentence before leaning over the side of the canoe and vomiting up a stomach full of whiskey and coke.

"_That's _why not everybody drinks all the time," Rachel said, holding back a laugh and looking satisfied. "How about you, Marco?" she called happily. "How long till you toss _your _cookies?"

"Shut up," he called back. To me, it sounded like his cookies were already trying to come up.

Ax finished vomiting and said, "That was unpleasant. I believe I've had enough of being crunk now, Marco. Please pull the boat to the side so I may demorph."

I was studying the map Rusty had given us, and I looked up to compare it to the unchanging forest around us. Well, _mostly _unchanging. On the map, it said, "Three rocks in middle of river – look left. Campsite just past the pink tree." Surely enough, there was inexplicably a pinkish tree standing out among the brown trunks of the pines. It looked as if the bark had been stripped away, and some fungus or growth had covered it in a fuzzy pink sheath.

"Actually, guys, the map says our campsite is just around this bend. Let's check it out and start getting set up for the night," I called to everyone.

"Sounds good," Jake agreed, checking the position of the sun. I could do him one better – I was wearing my waterproof, indestructible Timex.

"It's almost five. If we stop now, we'll have almost two hours to set up the campsite and get the fire started before dark. We'll need it, too. These tents are about twenty years old, and the instructions got lost a long time ago."

Jake took a moment from rowing to turn around and flash me a big, handsome smile. "You're amazing, you know?"

I blushed furiously, not sure what had brought _that _comment on. "Stop," I muttered, smiling a little.

He turned his attention back to the river and steered us toward the sandbar where we would camp, but his voice carried back to me. "I mean it, Cass. Is there anything you _can't _do?"

Instantly, my mind wandered back to real life – the Yeerks, the invasion, and everything that went along with it. I mentally dragged myself back to the moment, but I muttered, "Yeah, there's a few things." Thankfully, Jake overlooked my sudden dark mood and paddled frantically to run the canoe aground with enough speed to beach us. As the boat ground to a halt on the white sand with an abrasive "Kkkkkk" sound, he hopped out nimbly for his size and pulled the boat the rest of the way aground, so I wouldn't have to get wet when I stepped out. That little bit of gentlemanly chivalry really touched me, as it always does when Jake does it without trying.

"Thanks," I said, giving him a little half hug as he started unloading the gear. He just blushed, returned it, and gave me a little kiss on top of my head. I wondered when this sort of thing would stop being awkward for us. At the same time, I wondered if it wouldn't be better if it never did. Part of it was exciting, not knowing where we were at in our relationship. It made every touch, every look significant, and I didn't ever want to lose that.

Rachel and Tobias pulled up fairly smoothly. Tobias jumped out and gave everybody an apologetic look. "It's about that time." I figured he was talking about changing morphs. "Leave a little work for me, huh Jake?" he asked as Jake finished unloading our boat and started on Tobias and Rachel's.

Jake looked up and said very naturally, "Oh, you're in charge of the fire. Picking a spot, gathering wood, that sort of thing. I figured you'd be best at that while I try to set up these tents. Is that cool?"

I silently applauded. '_Oh, well done, Jake._' He really was an amazing leader, and we were lucky to have him. Despite what he said, he could read people almost as well as I could. He'd known that by delegating a task to Tobias, he was making Tobias feel like a full-fledged, useful part of the team. Which he always was, of course…it's just that Tobias doesn't always see himself that way. He's always trying to do a little extra, and Jake had saved him the standing-around-wringing-his-hands part by giving him a job. To the outside, Jake telling Tobias what to do might have seemed bossy. To me, it was an extremely thoughtful move on his part.

"Sure thing," Tobias said brightly as Ax and Marco ran their canoe onto the beach. "Come on, Ax-man. We'll see if we can spot any good logs while we're changing." Ax went with him, and I started helping Jake with one of the tents as Rachel took inventory of our food and Marco lay flat on his back on the beach and groaned, "Oh, my _ass _hurts. And my head."

_**Marco**_

Rachel and Jake told me I was being an idiot. I'd had too much to drink, they said. Well, no kidding. I was the one with the nauseous feeling and pounding head. I was holding onto the hope that it would pass and I'd be just drunk and feeling good, but I was thinking of giving in to their suggestion that I morph away from the alcohol.

That was when I saw it.

Jake and Cassie were working on the second big tent. Rachel and Tobias were stacking wood and good-naturedly arguing about the right way to make a campfire. Ax was sitting indian-style by the water's edge, looking at the small minnows which were lurking, hoping for scraps of food or anything edible the humans might drop. That was why I was the only one to see it, at the edge of the woods.

I say _it_, because it _was _an _it._ It was vaguely human in shape, being that I could only see the shoulders and the head. I almost missed it at first, because it was draped in what looked like one of those camouflage suits snipers wear – ghillie suits, I think they're called. You know, with the netting covered in leaves and sticks or whatever. The only reason I noticed it at all was its eyes.

The face was distorted; wrinkly, and it looked like it was covered in some thick, living leather. It was the color of mud. But the eyes…they were bright red jewels, catching the dying sun and reflecting them back at me. There was an awful intelligence in those eyes, and a shiver went down my spine as I stared into them and tried to decide if I was having a hallucination.

If it was a hallucination, it was a damn persistent one. I noticed it was holding a branch away from its face with a hand that looked more like Tobias' talons, with long, hooked claws. It felt like we stared each other down for a full minute. I opened my mouth to raise a shout to the others, but before I could make a sound, it was _gone_. Gone in a move so fast I wasn't really sure it had been there to begin with. The only sign of its former presence was in the way one of the limbs that had been touching it was moving back and forth.

I watched for a moment to see if it would come back, and when it became clear that it wouldn't, I quickly walked to where Jake was pounding a tent stake. "Dude, we might have a problem," I said quietly to him.

He didn't look up, but I could see the corner of his grin. "Finally starting to see that, huh? Well, we already told you to morph. You'll feel better."

Just as quietly as before, I said, "Not that, you moron. We're not alone out here."

The hatchet/hammer he was using to drive the tent stake stopped in mid swing. "What do you mean?" he asked in a much lower tone of voice.

"Keep hammering," I hissed. "We're being watched, and I don't want it to know _we _know." I thought that over before continuing, "Well, it already knows that I know, but maybe it thinks you guys won't believe me or something."

"What the hell are you talking about?" Jake asked, but he started hitting the stake again. "Is it a person, or…one of the others we deal with?"

"Neither," I said firmly. My first thought had been "alien!" too, because that's what we've come to expect of things we've never seen before. "Well, maybe it's the second one, but it's nothing we've seen before. It was just watching us. It had like a scaly pig face and red eyes, and when I went to call you guys, it left. It was _fast_, Jake, so fast."

Jake finished with the stake and stood up. He turned his back to the woods and walked slowly toward the water, and I followed him. In a low aside, he said, "I know it's only a few weeks until Halloween. If you're doing this to scare us, I swear, Marco -"

"Look at my face. Tell me _I'm _not scared." Jake took a look, and I guess what he saw made him decide to believe me. "Do you think we should go somewhere else? I have no idea what it wants, but that thing was goddam _scary._"

Jake thought for a second, then he sighed. "We can't. It'll be full dark in a half an hour. I'd have to take down the tents, repack everything, find a new spot, set up camp again…no way. We're stuck."

"So what do we do?" I asked nervously. I'm not a jittery person, but the pig-creature had really freaked me out.

"The first thing you're going to do is go into that tent and morph away from that damn whiskey. If there really is something out there, I need you sharp. While you're doing that, I'll go around and quietly tell everyone that we might have company and to be on the lookout. And I'll do it without scaring the hell out of them, the way you did me."

"Maybe they _should_ be scared," I said. "That thing was so creepy."

"Maybe they should, but I won't be the one to do it. With luck, we won't see it again. Without it…well, we'll just watch and see what happens. We can take care of ourselves."

"Jake…I'm not arguing…but it was so _fast_. Faster than anything I've ever seen. If it decided to make a run at us, we wouldn't even have time to _think_ about morphing."

Jake smiled grimly and pointed to the tent. "I've got something for him, it that's the way it goes. In the meantime, _please _go and sober up."

_**Tobias**_

So now, because of something Marco might or might not have seen in the woods, we felt like we weren't on vacation at all. Personally, I felt just as high-strung as I did during tense missions. No matter what it was out there, if it was anything at all, we _could not let it see us morph_.

That was okay. Either one of our tents were big enough to hold both me and Ax morphing at the same time. But the relaxation was gone, and as the sun sank lower behind the horizon and the stars came out, it was awfully creepy.

As full dark descended upon us, we got the fire really going. The flames were as tall as Jake, the biggest guy in our group. Despite that, the light didn't even touch the shadows that were just fifteen feet away. The woods might as well not have even been there, because we couldn't see them at all.

I wanted my wings, but I acknowledged to myself that my hawk body would have been just as useless in this situation. My vision is just the same at night as it is in my human morph – terrible.

One thing that _wasn't_ terrible about being human was eating human food. I wasn't as psycho about the idea as Ax, but it was close. Cassie and Rachel were cooking hot dogs, sausages, and hamburgers on a smaller cooking fire a few feet away from the campfire, and the smell was fabulous. A simple question from Rachel made me forget all about Marco's boogeyman.

"Hey, Tobias? Want cheese on your burger?"

Cheese. Are you kidding me? It's amazing the things you forget about when you haven't been human in a long time. I couldn't even remember the last time I tasted good old American cheese, but as soon as she mentioned it, I got the most insane craving for it. I smiled a little self-consciously and said, "Double cheese. Thank you."

Rachel just smiled back and put two slices of it on my burger while it was still on the fire, to melt it up, I guess. Her pearl-white teeth flashed brightly as they reflected the fire, and there was something about it that excited me. There was something primal and ancient about it, and it gave me an image of her about a thousand years ago, in the time period in which Rachel _should_ have been born. A time of migration and war and honor and battle.

_So _Rachel. But I like that about her.

"Yo, where are we at on those sausages?" Marco complained. He swore he was suffering a hangover, even though Ax had assured him that morphing had eliminated all traces of the alcohol and he was just imagining it. "I feel like Ax over here; I'm about to start eating my flip flops."

"Human shoes are edible?" Ax asked excitedly.

"No!" all five of us answered him immediately. We all looked at each other and laughed; Ax just disappointedly set down the flop he'd plucked off of his foot.

"No need to eat your shoes, Ax. Here you go." Cassie handed him a plate full of food, and you have to give the Ax-man credit. Instead of diving in, he held it calmly and looked at Jake.

"Prince Jake, I am learning about dining rituals. Camping is not a situation I have been in before; therefore I do not know which eating laws apply. May I eat, or must I wait?"

Jake looked floored, but he said, "Uh, yeah. You can totally eat – but wait!" he stopped Ax as he went right for the big, juicy sausage. "Eat the potato salad first – it's cold already, and you want to give the meat a chance to cool. If not, you'll burn the crap out of your mouth, and you'll have to demorph or suffer the terror of a burned mouth-roof."

"Tay-toe sallum? Which food is that?"

Cassie patted the log she was sitting on. "Come here, Ax. I'll help." He went to her, and Rachel began passing out more full plates.

I couldn't stop eating. I had seconds on everything. Once Rachel had heard that Ax was coming, she packed three times what we'd normally eat, and it was a good thing. Everybody tucked in hard. After we were through grubbing, we kind of instinctively gathered around the fire to offset some of the nightly chill.

"Shouldn't somebody be telling scary stories or something?" Marco asked.

"You already did," Rachel pointed out. "And you scared the living hell out of all of us." She looked around her, like her eyes could penetrate the darkness. "By the way, if that was a stupid joke, now's the time to come clean. I don't feel like I'll sleep tonight, if not."

I smiled. "You could always go grizzly and stalk around the perimeter to see if anything is out there."

Rachel's face took on the slack look she gets when she's actually considering an idea, and Jake tossed a small stick at me. "Don't give her ideas. We're supposed to be relaxing. Marco was probably just -"

_URK! Urk-URK!_

The wildest, most inhuman cry I'd ever heard cut off whatever Jake had been about to say. And it was _close _– close enough that my human ears could tell it was close. It sounded like it was just beyond the tents, maybe forty feet away from us.

Cassie was looking at me with a frightened intensity. "Tobias, you live in the woods," she whispered. "Is that an animal you've heard before? Because I sure don't know what makes that sound." I shook my head in the negative – I never had heard anything even close to that horrible sound.

_URK-URK! Urk-URK! Urk- URK!_

Now, in addition to the first monster-cry we'd heard near the tents, there was another one answering it, maybe a football field away. It made me feel extremely vulnerable and weak.

"Marco was probably just _what, _Jake? Just right? Just honest?" Marco crowed.

"Not the time!" Rachel hissed.

Jake stood up. He looked spooked, but not scared. "I didn't want to get this out. I was hoping we'd never need it, but now I'm glad my dad gave it to me." He walked a few feet away to his bag, dug for a second, and came out with an object wrapped in leather. I didn't realize what it was until he started buckling it around his waist.

"A gun, Jake? Since when do you carry?" I asked, a little surprised at that turn of events. But what was so surprising about it was that the small revolver did not look the least bit out of place on Jake's hip. It looked like…I don't know. A symbol of authority that had belonged there all along, maybe.

I looked around as Jake answered, and everybody's expressions pretty much matched what I felt – relief. With any regular kid, I'd have felt like I was in more danger with a gun in the mix. With Jake…well, we trust him with a lot more than a gun in day-to-day life.

"I _don't_ carry. I don't even much like guns. But I can shoot, and I'm not half bad," he said casually as he tested the draw on his pistol, making sure it came smoothly out of the holster, I guess. "Don't worry, this is just a little iron." He made to pass it to Marco, who put his hands in the air as if to say, '_Get that away from me!_'

Jake smiled again and thrust it his way. "It's safe. You never load the first cylinder. That way, if the trigger accidentally gets pulled, nothing happens." Marco looked dubious, but took it and tested its weight in his hand.

"Light," he commented as he passed it to Rachel, who took it and enthusiastically started studying it.

"It's just a little .22 revolver, good for plinking and scaring off animals and not much else. My dad wanted me to take that one because if someone accidentally _did _get shot, there's not a whole hell of a lot of damage it could do."

"But the weapon operates on the same principles of other human projectile weaponry?" Ax wondered.

"Yeah," Jake said as he took his gun back and slid it neatly into the holster without looking. "Just on a smaller scale. I think the slug on a .22LR weighs a little more than two grams."

"Moving at what velocity?" Ax pressed.

Jake scratched his head. "Jeez, Ax, make me look like I don't know what I'm doing, why don't you? It's been a few years since my gun class, but I _think _it's around 1,000 feet per second. Don't quote me on that."

"1,000 feet per _second? _Prince Jake, a ballistic, two-gram object moving at that speed would be capable of causing significant harm!"

Jake smiled again. "All guns are dangerous, Ax. It's what they were made for. I was just saying that in comparison to the bigger rounds -"

_URKURKURK! Urk-URK! UUUURK!_

For the second time in five minutes, Jake was cut off by that inhuman, crazed cry. It sounded almost like an impossibly loud hiccup, only drawn into the chest instead of exhaled out. It was so deep that I actually felt a slight rattle in my own chest from it. And there were definitely more than one of them out there – it sounded like at least two of them, maybe three. Jake's hand dropped to the butt of his gun as he futilely tried to scan the invisible forest.

"That does it," Rachel said. "I'm going grizzly and I'm going to find out what the hell that is. No way am I sleeping out here without knowing."

"I want to find out, too," Cassie said. Rachel nodded and reached under the hem of her spaghetti-strap blouse to pull it off and get down to her morphing outfit. Cassie put a gentle hand on her wrist to stop her. "No need to go into battle morphs, though. Your grizzly can't see in this darkness, anyway. We have something that can, though, and it can keep us safe, too."

"Owl," Marco said, catching on instantly. "We all have that morph."

"Except me," I grumbled. "What am I supposed to do, cower here in the dark while you guys go find the bad guys?"

"First of all, we don't know that they're bad guys," Jake corrected. "They could just be some species that none of us are familiar with, and they might not be looking for trouble. But in case they have something to do with the _slugs_, I think only two of us need to go check this out. I'll stay here, because I have the gun. Ax, you're staying too. If there _is _a fight, I want you demorphed and in on it."

"I'm going," Rachel said predictably. "And forgive me if I'm showing favoritism, but I'd prefer it if Cassie went with me. No offense, Marco," she said with a sneer that completely contradicted her last sentence.

"None taken. The last thing I want on this trip is for you to drag me into a fight with the damn Skinned Men of Narnia or whatever the hell is out there."

"I'll go," Cassie said quietly.

"It's probably safer in the air, at least until we know what we're dealing with," Jake told her.

"Thanks for making me feel better," Marco grumbled. Jake patted his gun, and Marco rolled his eyes. "Yeah, you'd have just as much luck with firecrackers, Sheriff. These things are scary, dude. Real monsters."

"I can't take any more of his crap," Rachel said, brushing off the seat of her shorts and heading to the tent to morph. Cassie followed her. Jake stood guard as best he could while being blind, and he didn't relax until two barely-visible owls skimmed their way out of the tent and ghosted into the forest.

Marco watched them go, then turned to Jake. "You don't think I'm full of crap, huh Jake?" he grinned.

Jake smiled back. "Only on days that end with Y."

_**Rachel**_

(I _hear _them, but I can't _see _them. This is ridiculous,) I complained as Cassie and I skimmed about fifteen feet above the forest floor.

The darkness that had been so complete to my human eyes was nothing to the eyes of the Great Horned Owl. When I'd entered the tent to morph, it had been the darkest, inkiest night ever. When Cassie and I flew out, it was like noon on a cloudless day. That's a bit of an exaggeration, I guess. It's not like things looked like they did when the sun was up…it was just that I could _see_. Everything. Nothing was invisible, nothing was hidden.

Nothing, except for the creatures who'd decided to terrorize us. We'd hear one of those horrible cries, zip over to where we'd heard it…and by the time we got in visual range, nothing. Gone. Then we'd hear the scream from somewhere else, and we'd go to investigate, and it would be gone. Lather, rinse, repeat. Very frustrating.

We did this for about an hour, swinging close enough to the camp to let the others know we were okay every fifteen minutes or so. Finally, even mild Cassie got irritated.

(Obviously, this isn't working. Maybe we should try going wolf, see if we can _smell _them out.)

(Maybe,) I replied, but an idea was forming in my mind. (Why should we go looking for them?) I wondered out loud.

(What do you mean?)

(Well, they were all around our camp until we went looking. Then they seemed like they were leading us deeper into the woods.)

(Not deeper, but west of camp,) Cassie corrected. (And I don't think they were leading. Honestly, I don't think they know we're here. Us, as owls, I mean. It's more like they're patrolling while keeping an eye on our camp.)

(Why would an animal do that?) I asked. (That's a human thing to do, patrol and recon. If an animal wanted to keep us away from something, they'd either draw back and protect…whatever they're protecting. That, or they'd go right in for the attack, if they thought we were in their territory.)

Cassie flared and perched on a dead pine branch, ignoring another one of the pained, horrifying screams from deeper in the forest. I perched nearby. (You're right,) she agreed. (Think horses,) she muttered.

(Huh?)

(My dad says it all the time when he's diagnosing a patient or trying to figure something out. "When you hear hoofbeats, think horses, not zebras." It just means that when you're stuck, follow the evidence logically. If these things don't sound like animals, Marco says they don't look like animals, and they don't act like animals…well, then they're probably not animals.)

I thought about the Hork-Bajir and the Taxxons and the Gedd. (Not _Earth _animals, anyway,) I said.

(You're right. We have to consider that possibility, too. So, what do we know? Lay out the facts,) she asked me.

I thought for a minute. (Okay. They're not from around here; we know that much. They seem to be somewhat intelligent, with the way they're avoiding us. They're also obviously letting us know they're here, and seem to be warning us away from something in the west. They haven't attacked us yet, so they probably won't.)

(Now you're speculating,) Cassie interrupted. (If they're intelligent, which you said and I believe, it could be that they're just waiting for us to go to sleep to attack. I don't know that for a fact, but just because they haven't attacked us yet doesn't mean they won't.)

I was about to reply when one of those screams almost sent me streaking for the moon. It was right below me, and I managed to get my instincts under control before I let out an owl screech of my own and took off. I focused my eyes on the spot where I'd heard the sound.

_Shoop. Shoop. _Two unbelievably quick motions, so fast that I hadn't processed the fact that I'd seen anything at all until it stopped. I realized what it was and what I was looking at – a bald, scaly, human-sized head, looking around so quickly that the motion was almost invisible. I focused, and suddenly it was like one of those Magic Eye pictures. I could see it. Sort of.

The thing was roughly human size and shape, just like Marco had said. It was crouched on all fours, and its head was the only thing not purposely camouflaged. Its body was draped in what looked like a fine net of woven leaves and grass, and it blended in perfectly with the forest floor. I stayed perfectly still, but said to Cassie in a thought-speech whisper, (Are you seeing this?)

(Yes,) she answered, and she sounded really scared. Well, that was cool, because if I'd been human, I would have been peeing myself.

_UUUURK! Urk-UUUURK! _It let out one of its impossibly-loud inverted hiccup screams, and it was gone. I mean _gone. _One minute it was there, the next…nothing. Well, _almost _nothing. I dropped from the branch and fluttered to the ground, where it had been.

(Are you _crazy?_) Cassie demanded. (What if it comes back?)

I ignored her and watched the dead leaves that were still settling. They were the only indication that anything had ever been there at all. Wait…not the only thing. (Can you see these marks?) I asked Cassie, brushing away some dead leaves with my right wing.

(Yeah. Man! The meathooks that left those gouges in the ground must have been eight inches long!)

I got airborne again and headed for the camp. (So now we know three things for sure. Not even our owl morphs can spot them unless we're right on top of them. They're impossibly fast. And they've got claws that make my grizzly's look like a joke. What are we going to do? I'm not sleeping out in the open with those things out there.)

(We'll take it to Jake,) Cassie said. (We'll tell him what we found and see what he wants to do about it.)

**A/N – **And there's part one! Part two will be up in a day or two, so if you're anxious to find out what these things in the woods are (and what they're doing), just click a story alert. And, while you're there, I would _love _it if you'd leave a review with your thoughts on how this is going so far! Thank you again for reading, and I hope you've enjoyed it so far!


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